We’re pleased to announce that ERS is working with Smith College as a Design Clinic sponsor for the 2020–2021 academic year. Smith’s Design Clinic is a two-semester capstone course for senior engineering students that allows students to apply their engineering classroom education on a project while working alongside practicing engineers. ERS is honored to work in conjunction with Smith students on a renewable energy carbon footprint reduction design project for Lathrop Community.
Lathrop Community is a senior independent living community in Easthampton, MA, with a campus of residential units that were constructed between 1996 and 2006 with little consideration of environmental sustainability. Current Lathrop residents and leadership members reached out to Smith College with an interest in working with students and ERS to determine possible environmental and economic savings from retrofits to existing structures and/or renewable energy production.
A team of ERS engineers collaborated with Smith College and Lathrop Community to develop the scope of work for the Design Clinic project. The ERS engineering team will serve as advisors for the students throughout the course and review each of the deliverables as they are completed. At the end of the capstone course, students will deliver a report summarizing their findings from building and energy consumption equipment analysis with design options, a detailed summary of their findings from the renewable energy study, and recommendations for future new construction buildings to support Lathrop Community’s short-term and long-term facility planning.